Vintage Pyrex patterns: how to identify, date and care for them

A little Pyrex history

Corning introduced Pyrex kitchenware in 1915, and the first pieces were clear heat-resistant glass. The colorful stuff collectors love is opal ware: opaque white glass, decorated with colored exteriors. Corning's opal ware production began after it acquired the MacBeth-Evans plant in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s.

The first colored opal ware was the Primary Colors mixing bowl set in 1945: blue, red, green and yellow nesting bowls. Printed patterns came along starting in 1956, and color ware stayed in production until the mid-1980s.

Popular vintage Pyrex patterns and their years

These dates come from the pattern timeline at PyrexCollector.com, a long-running collector reference. Many patterns came in several colorways and some were sold slightly before or after these dates as promotions, so treat them as a guide, not gospel.

• Snowflake: 1956 to about 1967, depending on colorway (white on turquoise, turquoise on white, white on charcoal). A later Snowflake Blue ran 1972 to 1976.
• Pink Daisy: 1956 to 1963.
• Butterprint: 1957 to 1968. The farm-scene design many collectors nickname the Amish pattern, best known in turquoise and white.
• Gooseberry: 1957 to 1966. Best known in pink and white, also black on yellow and other colorways.
• Golden Acorn: 1960 to 1964.
• Early American: 1962 to 1971.
• Town & Country: 1963 to 1967.
• Verde: 1967 to 1972.
• Horizon Blue: 1969 to 1972.
• Friendship: 1971 to 1974.
• Butterfly Gold: 1972 to about 1981.
• Spring Blossom Green: 1972 to about 1981.
• Old Orchard: 1974 to 1978.

What are Cinderella bowls?

Cinderella bowls are the nesting mixing bowls with a pouring spout on one side and a tab handle on the other. They were introduced in the late 1950s, and the Corning Museum of Glass notes that Butterprint and Gooseberry were the first patterns printed on them. They usually come as a set of four sizes, and complete matching sets are what collectors hunt.

Corning used the Cinderella name on other pieces too, like carafes and butter dishes, but when collectors say Cinderella bowls, they mean the spout-and-handle mixing bowls.

How to date vintage Pyrex

The backstamp on the bottom is your best friend. It won't give you an exact year, but it narrows things down.

• Pattern: if you know the pattern, you know its production window (see the list above).
• Model numbers: numbers above the Pyrex name started appearing around 1950. The earliest round color ware bowls have none.
• Metric capacities: liter measurements molded into the base point to the mid-1970s or later.
• Wording: older stamps read MADE IN U.S.A., while later ones say things like "by Corning" with care instructions such as NO BROILER OR STOVETOP.
• Cinderella shape: spout-and-handle nesting bowls date from the late 1950s on.
• Ignore stray numbers and letters around the stamp. They're mold and production codes, not dates.

Condition terms: DWD, flea bites and more

Pyrex condition decides value as much as pattern does. Here's the vocabulary you'll hear on our shows and in listings:

• DWD (dishwasher damage): a hazy, chalky, faded look to the colored exterior. It doesn't come back.
• Stripping: worse than DWD. The color or pattern is partly or completely gone.
• Chips and flea bites: small chips, usually on the rim or the foot ring. Run a fingertip around both.
• Scratches and utensil marks: gray lines inside bowls from mixers and spoons. Collectors forgive these more than damage to the outside.
• Flashing and flow marks: small molding quirks from the factory. They generally don't hurt value.

Caring for vintage Pyrex

The number one rule: no dishwasher. Dishwasher detergent is what causes DWD, and even collectors who use their Pyrex every day hand wash it. Use warm water, mild soap and a soft sponge, and skip the abrasive scrubbers on the painted outside.

Avoid sudden temperature changes, like moving a hot dish onto a cold or wet counter or putting a cold dish into a hot oven. Vintage opal ware wasn't meant for the stovetop or broiler, and many pieces say so right on the bottom.

Finding Pyrex on our shows

When Pyrex comes up on our Whatnot shows we turn it in the light so you can see the gloss (or the DWD), check the rims and foot rings, and read the backstamp for you. If you're filling out a Butterprint set or chasing one more Gooseberry Cinderella, tell us in chat and we'll keep an eye out.

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